Hand Luggage Size

Airline Hand Luggage Size

Although travelling with ‘hand luggage only’ has increased over the past few years, there still seems to be some confusion over hand luggage size and what is allowed. The truth is, every airline has their own policy regarding cabin luggage size and you should make yourself familiar with the hand luggage size restrictions of the airline you are flying with.

In an ideal world, every airline would have the same size restrictions regarding the size of hand luggage but sadly they do not and to avoid any unexpected additional costs and embarrassment when you arrive at the airport and are asked to place your hand luggage in the bag gauge, you should pay for any extra luggage prior to your travel. As we have mentioned in previous article on the Before Travel website, if you turn up at the airport and your hand luggage does not comply with the hand luggage size restrictions of the airline to which you are flying with, your hand luggage will have to go in the ‘Hold’ as Checked-In luggage and you will be charged for this. As you can imagine, paying this charge at the airport will be much more expensive than pre booking your luggage in as ‘Hold’ luggage in advance.

Note: If you think that the size of your hand luggage will be too big to take on board the aircraft as hand luggage due to the amount of items you have packed, check it in as ‘Hold’ luggage prior to arriving at the airport. Although it may be an extra cost that you had not wished to pay, it will mean that you can take more items if required and will ensure that you only pay a minimal fee for your extra weight and luggage size rather than being charged a ridiculous amount of money at the airport. If you need to pay for your luggage to go in the Hold, you might as well pay less and book it in advance!

Every airline will allow you to take cabin luggage on board the aircraft but it is the short haul flights with the low cost airlines that seem to be the most strict. The reason for this is that more passengers who travel with the low cost airlines choose to travel with hand luggage only to avoid paying the extra cost of checking-in hold luggage.

Hand Luggage Dimensions

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) does set guidelines for hand luggage size but these are only guidelines and are not compulsory. The guidelines for hand luggage size on commercial airlines are:

These sizes include all external features such as pockets, wheels and handles.

As you will see from the guide below that lists the top airlines hand luggage dimensions, the dimensions of hand luggage varies from 55x40x20cm to 56x45x25cm.

56cm long x 45cm wide x 25cm deep

Variations And Combine hand Luggage Size And Weight

Some airlines now allow you to take two items of hand luggage on board the aircraft. These policies do vary between airlines and some let you have and additional smaller item as well as your hand luggage and others let you take on board two items as long as the combine size and weight of both does not exceed the single hand luggage allowance.

For example: If the hand luggage allowance for a single bag was 55x40x20cm and the weight was 10 kg, you would be allowed to take two items of hand luggage as long as their combined size did not exceed 55x40x20cm and the combined weight of the two bags did not exceed 10kg.

Why Do They Have Restrictions On Maximum Hand Luggage Size

The majority of airlines have hand luggage size restrictions in place so that they can ensure all the hand luggage that is carried on board by passengers, will fit in the overhead lockers or safely under the seat.

Remember: If you are travelling in one of the Emergency Exit seats, all your loose items will need to be stowed away in the overhead lockers during take-off and landing. So, it is equally as important that your hand luggage complies with the airlines policies and fits in the overhead lockers.

A List Of Airline Hand Luggage Size and Weight Allowances

Below is a list of the most popular airlines and their hand luggage size and weight restrictions.

Please Note: The following hand luggage sizes and weight allowance with the listed airlines were correct at the time of writing. It is advised that you check with the airline to which you will be flying with before travel to confirm what their policy regarding hand luggage.

Airline

Hand Luggage Dimensions In cm

Weight Allowance

Aegean Airlines

55x40x20

8kg

Aer Lingus

55x40x24

10kg

Aeroflot

55x40x20

10kg

Air Asia

56x36x23

7kg

Air Baltic

55x40x20

8kg

Air Berlin

55x40x20

8kg

Air Canada

55x40x23 plus 1 personal item

10kg

Air China

55x40x20

5kg*

Air Europa

55x35x25

10kg*

Air France

55x35x25 plus 1 personal item

12kg*

Air India

55x40x20

8kg

Air Malta

55x40x20

10kg*

Air New Zealand

51x37x24

7kg*

Alitalia

55x35x25

8kg

American Airlines

56x36x23

23kg

Austrian Airlines

55x40x23

8kg

BMI

55x40x20

6kg

British Airways

56x45x25 plus 1 personal item

23kg

Brussels Airlines

55x40x23

6kg – 16kg*

Bularia Air

55x40x23

10kg

Cathay Pacific

56x36x23

7-15kg*

Croatia Airlines

55x40x23

8kg

Cyprus Airways

55x40x23

8kg

Delta

56x35x23

Not specified

Easyjet

55x40x20

Unlimited weight

Egypt Air

55x40x23

8kg

Emirates

55x38x20

7kg

Estonian Air

56x45x25

8kg

Finnair

56x45x25

8kg

Flybe

55x40x23

10kg

German Wings

55x40x20

8kg

Gulf Air

55x40x30

9kg

Hong Kong Airlines

56x36x23

7kg

Iberia

56x45x25

Unlimited Weight

Iceland Air

55x40x20

10kg

Japan Airlines

55x40x25

10kg

Jet2

56x45x25

10kg

KLM

55x35x25

12kg

Kuwait Airlines

56x36x23

7kg

LOT Airways

55x40x23

8kg

Lufthansa

55x40x23

8kg

LUX Air

55x35x16

7kg

Malaysia Airlines

56x36x23

7kg

Monarch Airlines

56x40x25

5kg

Norwegian Airlines

55x40x23

10kg

Pegasus Airlines

55x40x23

8kg

Quantas Airways

56x36x23

4-7kg depending on route

Ryanair

55x40x20

10kg

SAS Scandinavian Airlines

55x40x20

10kg

South African Airways

56x36x23

8kg

Srilankan Airlines

46x36x20

7kg

Sun Express

55x40x20

6kg

Sunwing Airlines

51x40x20

6kg

Swiss Air

55x40x23

5kg

Thomas Cook

55x40x20

5kg

Thomson

55x40x20

5kg

Tunisair

55x40x25

7kg*

Turkish Airlines

55x40x23

8kg

Ukraine Airlines

55x40x20

7kg*

United Airlines

56x35x22

Not specified

US Airways

56x36x23

18kg

Virgin Atlantic

56x36x23

10kg*

Vueling

55x40x20

10kg

West Jet

53x38x23

Wizz Air

42x32x25 **

*This is the weight allowance for standard Economy class and the weight allowance is more for Business and First class passengers.

**This is classed as small cabin bag and must be able to fit under the seat in front. You can take a larger bag for and extra fee but it cannot exceed 56x45x25 and must fit in the overhead lockers.

As you can see from the list above, all the airlines have different policies regarding their hand luggage size, restrictions and allowances. It is up to you to comply with their policies otherwise you will incur a charge if you hand luggage is too big or too heavy.